Food & Wine Fest set for Oct. 4

The annual Food & Wine Fest scheduled Oct. 4 in St. Spyridon Cathedral, 102 Russell St., Worcester, is a celebration of great food, wine and microbrews.

The fundraiser for Holy Trinity Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Worcester puts special emphasis on Mediterranean cuisine.

The event will be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in St. Spyridon’s Cotsidas Auditorium. Free parking will be in the cathedral’s parking lots.

Cost: $40 per person; $75 for two, prepaid; $50, at the door. For tickets or more information, call (508) 425-7651 or send email to foodandwinefest@htnr.net.

The dish:

A silent auction is planned, so get ready to bid.

Enjoy music by Ed Hyder’s Park Avenue Band.

Wine lovers will be able to learn more about Italian and German wines at a tasting presented by Jim Vasiliadis, owner of O’Hara’s Wine & Liquors in Worcester, and Dr. Bob Ouelette, noted wine connoisseur.

Stacy Woods, certified wine educator, will give a “Sensory Perception” seminar from 7 to 7:30 p.m. Get to know the various components of wine. It’s not just about taste!

Festival tickets: $40, per person in advance; $50 the day of the event. All food sampling is included in the ticket price. Visit www.phantomgourmet.com.

One hundred of the Phantom Gourmet’s favorite foods will be featured. An estimated 10,000 Phantom “Phans” will consume half a million pieces of food on the day of the festival, presented by Dadgar Insurance.

At this incredible block party, enjoy music and special parties inside some of the restaurants on Lansdowne Street.

During October, the restaurant will feature German food and beers. Check out the menu, which will include sauerbraten, weinersnitchel, German meatballs, blaukraut (braised red cabbage), potato pancakes, German-style potato and bratwurst.

Niche Hospitality Group, which owns and operates The People’s Kitchen, will sponsor a tasting of food, boutique wines, beers and crafted cocktails.

Tickets purchased in advance are $25 per person ($15 per person for 21- to 30-year-olds) and can be purchased by calling the Habitat for Humanity-MetroWest/Greater Worcester office, (508) 799-9259, or visit www.habitatmwgw.org. Click on donate.

Tickets at the door will be $30 per person ($20 per person for those 21-30 years old).

Niche Hospitality Group staff members recently volunteered time at Habitat’s Fales Street site, where a two-bedroom house is being built.

Raise your glass in support of the project!

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Joshua Ives of Fiskdale took first place in the Fleischmann’s Yeast “Sensational Sandwich Bread” contest at the Big E held at the Eastern States Exposition Fairgrounds in West Springfield. Ives won a $150 cash prize, and he now moves on to national judging, where he and 34 other first-place winners from state and county fairs across the country will compete for the $1,000 grand prize.

Here’s the recipe for Ives’ Mediterranean-style meatloaf sandwiches on focaccia, courtesy of Fleischmann’s: